All Rise...

Judge Daryl Loomis rode a wolf through the woods...and now walks with a limp.

The Charge

The flaming days of the Great Cree Rebellion, when the famed "Pony
Soldiers" rode and loved where no white man dared before!

The Case

Whether it takes place in Kansas, New Mexico or Western Canada, an oater is
an oater, no matter how you want to slice it. That doesn't make it good or bad,
but viewers will get exactly what they expect, especially from a lazy one like
Pony Soldier. The only difference here is that it tackles the early days
of the vaunted Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Whatever value that has is
debatable, because this one is about as standard as it gets.

In 1876, the RCMP is trying to settle the western lands and keep the peace
with the native tribes. They have a better relationship with the tribes than
their American counterparts, but many of the natives see one invading white man
as just like any other. So, when a pair of Americans is captured by the Cree,
who have ventured to unauthorized hunting grounds, newly recruited Constable
Duncan MacDonald (Tyrone Power, Witness for the Prosecution)
must make a daring rescue attempt by proving himself an honorable man. His
attempts are gravely jeopardized, however, when one of the abductees kills the
brother of the chief.

Canada is an immensely beautiful place, but if there's one place it doesn't
much resemble, it's Arizona. That didn't stop Fox Studios from electing to film
Pony Soldier in the American Southwest. Now, a lot of films were made in
locales elsewhere from their stories, but this is one of the more egregious
examples of it that I can remember. It's still a beautiful region and
cinematographer Harry Jackson (The Band
Wagon) takes full advantage of it, but there's little else to support about
the film.

Tyrone Power was a decent actor in swashbucklers, but as a nice and tame
Mountie, he really doesn't work at all. He acts like he could barely have cared
about being in the film and it suffers for it, but he's not the only offender.
Everybody in the cast plays it like they're just bored and, as a result, I was
pretty bored watching it. And Cameron Mitchell (Blood and Black Lace) as a Cree
warrior is the kind of stereotypical waste of talent that ran rampant through
this era of cinema.

The story plays out in standard fashion, with its only difference being the
red suits of the RCMP and the fact that MacDonald adopts an orphaned Blackfoot
boy who, of course, helps to save the day. Director Joseph M. Newman (This
Island Earth) made some pretty good pictures over the years, but this one
has absolutely no life to it. No action, no fights, not anything to make it
worth watching.

In my time reviewing the limited edition releases from Twilight Time, I have
been extremely happy with all of their products. Unfortunately, that time is at
an end with their Blu-ray for Pony Soldier. It's not the worst disc out
there and it certainly fares better than it did on video, but there is not much
good I can say about it. The 1.33:1/1080p image is nearly always extremely soft,
with only the tightest close ups showing any kind of clarity. Mostly, it mutes
the cinematography, which is the only admirable part of the film. Colors are
sometimes strong, though not always, and black levels are deep enough, but
nothing special. The Master Audio track is better than the image, but still not
any great mix. The dialog is mostly clear and the music comes through fairly,
with little noise to find, but nothing stands out about it at all. Speaking of
that score, the only extra on the disc is an isolated score track with a
lossless 2.0 mix. I like the inclusion, but the score doesn't have nearly the
power of others that they've released.

Pony Soldier is lifeless and dull, with little going for it beyond
some good natural photography. With a disappointing Blu-ray release, it's hard
to recommend the film to anybody but the biggest Tyrone Power fans out
there.